Designed For Performance - Black auto designers

Black Enterprise, Nov, 2001 by Blair S. Walker

Black auto designers set the standard for some of the most popular--and stylish--cars on the road

FEW CONSUMERS BUY A CAR OR LIGHT TRUCK BECAUSE they're enamored of the vehicle's double-wishbone suspension or the engine's torque. Purchases are generally driven by looks--alluring shapes and inviting interiors. Car manufacturers prosper by making people feel warm and fuzzy about several thousand pounds of steel, glass, and rubber sitting on a showroom floor; and styling plays an integral role in creating that appeal.

Determining what automobiles will look like is the job of an elite group of designers. In a business where it can cost billions of dollars to transform a car from an artistic concept into a product ready for the marketplace, innovative designers are an automaker's ace in the hole. A well-executed design (Chrysler PT Cruiser) can propel vehicle sales to record heights, but one that's widely panned by the public and the automotive press (Pontiac Aztec) can be the kiss of death. So it's easy to understand why one high-ranking car executive refers to designers as the "lifeblood" of the auto industry. Roughly 550 of these ultracompetitive folks practice their trade worldwide, says Clyde Foles, a professor of industrial design with the world-renowned College for Creative Studies in Detroit. Of those 550 designers, however, only a handful--maybe 25 to 30--are black.

Foles, who's taught industrial design at the College for Creative Studies for 21 years, notes: "Even though we get a small number of black students ... there is a higher level of consciousness of style."

But he admits that in order to attract more blacks to the world of industrial design, "there just has to be more communication to students in high school." Adds Foles, "I think they would find it to be a glamorous option."

BLACK ENTERPRISE tracked down six members of this elite group. They hail from the United States, Canada, and England, and range in age from 31 to 50. They work with Detroit's Big Three, as well as with top German and Japanese automakers.

IVAN LAMPKIN, 34

Title: Senior exterior designer

Company: BMW

Latest Project: Designing full-size exterior proposals for future BMW models.

BMW designer Ivan Lampkin's career has followed a traditional trajectory. The son of a Swiss mother and a Guyanese father, Lampkin was a self-described "car freak" growing up in London.

Following high school, he studied car design at the Royal College of Art, located in the heart of London. After that, Lampkin set out for Turin, Italy, and the Pininfarina design house, best known for the sensuous car bodies it creates for Ferrari.

That led to a four-month Pininfarina internship that was "fascinating," Lampkin says. "I couldn't speak a word of Italian when I arrived. I learned rapidly, though."

After Pininfarina, Lampkin signed a contract to do design work with Audi for a year and a half, relocating from Italy to Munich, Germany, in 1991. When his contract with Audi expired, Lampkin went next door to the offices of BMW He was assigned to the interior design team and crafted the seats now used in the BMW 3-series. He's now a senior exterior designer in BMW's California studio.

Like all auto designers, Lampkin can't divulge what he's working on, but says it generally takes three to five months for BMW car sketches to become a full-size mock-up. Secrecy is paramount among those who determine the automotive shapes of the future.

RALPH GILLES, 31

Title: Director exterior/interior Studio 3 and Product Identity

Company: DaimlerChrysler

Latest Project: Currently working on interiors for the new Vi per and Jeep Liberty.

Auto designs are often shrouded in secrecy. But the cloak-and-dagger routine is old hat for DaimlerChrysler designer Ralph Gilles, who fashioned the interior of the new Jeep Liberty SUV.

Gilles had been sketching cars since he was 5, but had designs on a career as a doctor. However, a high school calculus course convinced him otherwise, and, to the delight of his parents, Gilles enrolled in a two-year college as an engineering major.

"Every time I was supposed to be listening to a lecture," Gilles recalls ruefully, "I'd be sketching cars." Deciding that car design was the best fit for his talents and inclinations, Gilles dropped out of school after one year.

Needless to say, his parents weren't thrilled. But an influential aunt remained firmly in Gilles' corner. She wrote a letter to then-Chrysler Corp. Chairman and CEO Lee lacocca, seeking advice on how her nephew could get into the field of car design. A Chrysler vice president responded, advising Gilles to contact the College for Creative Studies. He graduated from the school in 1992.

"Chrysler hired me before I had even gotten my graduation papers," says Gilles, who has helped create interiors for the Dodge Intrepid and the Chrysler 300M. He dreams of putting together a coffee-table book on auto design so he can generate funds for minority students to attend design colleges.

EARL LUCAS, 31

Title: Design manager

Company: Ford Motor Corp.